Section IV. Strategize: Growth Opportunities

“The essence of strategy is in the activities—choosing to perform activities differently or to perform different activities than rivals. Otherwise, a strategy is nothing more than a marketing slogan.”

—Michael Porter

The two arrows in the P•R•A•I•S•E Marketing Process between Implement and Strategize imply a reciprocal relationship between the two elements. They are intended to convey the continuous process of strategy development and implementation, measuring results, and developing new strategies based on the outcomes and what you learned.

Strategy always comes before implementation. But stop for a moment and think about how businesses typically approach marketing. The goal is often to start producing leads and finding new customers. If a business owner is starting a new business, he or she can’t wait to create a logo, brochure, direct mail piece, web site, and so on. What happens is programs are implemented before strategy or a marketing plan is created, and they are often based on a best guess of who will buy the products and services and why they buy. Marketing messages convey the benefits the marketer or business owner believes are important, not necessarily what drives the customer to buy. Often the results fall short in generating leads, sales, or the targeted return on investment.

I imagine that nearly everyone reading this book can relate to this scenario. Consider the reciprocal relationship between “Strategize” and “Implement” as you read this chapter. You will reflect on the past marketing strategies and tactics you have implemented and how to make them more effective and measurable in the future. Most important, you will apply what you have learned from the research and analysis you have completed up to this point in the process to develop new strategies to grow your business and market share.

Renowned management expert Peter Drucker said the best learning in life comes from a very simple process. When you begin something new, write down what you believe will happen. Then write down what really happened. Is there a substantial difference between what your expectations were and what actually happened? If so, what did you learn from the experience?

A similar process will be applied to strategy development. As strategies are executed, you will evaluate the cause and effect of the results. Was your strategy on target? If results are less than expected, was this due to the strategy, strategy execution, unexpected changes in market conditions, or something else? If you have followed this process so far, your strategies will yield much better results than you have experienced in the past. In this section, you will learn how to:

• Create effective positioning and value propositions.

• Understand what makes an effective brand.

• Develop a sales forecast and a sales plan.

• Evaluate competitor strategies to determine your competitive advantage.

• Define specific marketing objectives.

• Analyze several types of marketing strategies to determine the optimal strategic direction for your business.

• Evaluate strategic opportunities based on the competitive landscape.

• Create effective strategies to achieve your business and marketing objectives.